Poet and photographer Matthew Hollett wins 2020 CBC Poetry Prize

Matthew Hollett has won the2020CBC Poetry PrizeforTickling the Scar.

Hollettwill receive $6,000 from theCanada Council for the Artsand will also receive awriting residency at theBanff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

His winning poem has been published onCBC Books. You can readTickling the Scarhere.

"Tickling the Scar's lines turn from intimate witness to distant reportage and culminate in a chilling statement about the present moment. Walking the Lachine Canal, the poem's central I dissolves into an anonymous masked figure, the poem returning to the image of a lung, seen in the form of a lake and of a splayed mussel shell. As it breathes, it explores greed and recklessness, courage and industriousness, shifting scales effortlessly from the damage being done today, to the damage already done to the natural world that surrounds us. This is a poem without a false step, gliding smoothly between the topical and timeless," the jury said in a statement.

• How Matthew Holletwrote the poem that won the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize

The jury was comprised of Kaie Kellough, Dionne Brandand Stephen Collis.

CBC Books2:24Matthew Hollett reads Tickling the Scar

Tickling the Scar won the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize.

Hollett's poemwas selected from almost 3,000English-language submissionsreceived from across the country.

Hollett, originally from St. John's but who had recently moved to Montreal,wroteTickling the Scarduring the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when he would take regular walks along the city's Lachine Canal.

"The pandemic felt viscerally close at hand and yet strangely distant, as I had only recently moved here and didn't know anyone directly affected. Walking the canal became a way of grappling with this abstraction, and with how quickly the world was changing," he said in an interview with CBC Books.

Hollett hadpreviously beenlonglisted for both the 2016 CBC Poetry Prize andthe 2017 CBC Nonfiction Prize.

"I'm heartened and humbled that my poem was chosen by the jury. It was hard to write about the pandemic, and I find my poem difficult to read now, as the number of coronavirus cases continues to climb. Those early days back in the spring felt so strange, and I wanted to document that strangeness. This feels like a new kind of poem for me, so it's very encouraging," he said.

• Read Matthew Hollett's winning poem, Tickling the Scar

The four remaining finalists for the CBC Poetry PrizeareSelina Boan of Vancouver forConversations with Niton, Have you ever fallen in love with a day,Hiromi Goto of Victoria foralley/bird/ally,Emily Riddle ofEdmonton forLearning to CountandAndrea Scott ofVictoria forAdipose Glose.

They will each receive$1,000 from theCanada Council for the Arts.

The jury selected theshortlistfrom alonglistof 32writers that was compiled by a team of writers and editors from across Canada.

Last year's winner was Calgary writerAlycia Pirmohamedfor her collection of poems,Love Poem with Elk and Punctuation, Prairie StormandTasbih.

Anna Quinn won thePrix de posie Radio-Canada forMauve est un verbe pour ma gorge.

TheCBC Literary Prizeshave been recognizing Canadian writers since 1979. Past winners includeMichael Ondaatje,Carol Shields,Michael WinterandFrances Itani.

• Check out past CBC Literary Prizes winners

If you're interested in otherCBC Literary Prizes, the2021CBC Nonfiction Prizewill open in January and the 2021CBC Poetry Prizewill open in April.